Strong Medicine
by modernpromises
Summary: Nahti Newblossom is a driven girl, determined to make it off of the Rez and all the way to med school. But the ancestors have something else in store for her. Nahti is destined for more than she ever imagined but luckily she's not alone. Paul/OC Pack
1. Chapter 1: Nahti Newblossom

Disclaimer: Twilight is the property of Stephenie Meyer. I do not own anything except the OCs.

I know people don't understand what a "good girl" like Nahti Newblossom is doing hanging around with a "bad boy" like Paul Lahote but as far as I'm concerned it shouldn't be any of their concern.

For one, I'm a regular person – I tell the occasional lie to get out of doing things, I'm not always nice or in a good mood, and I'm certainly not as pure as people seem to think. Just because I take academics seriously and volunteer at the hospital, some people on the rez are ready to make a saint. I find it limiting.

Any time someone 'catches' me doing something that they don't approve of, they think it's their place to tell me that it's not what 'good girls' do. They remind me that I don't want to turn out like my older sister, Nayla – pregnant at 16 and still running wild five years later. Considering it's me and Grams that have been raising Nayla's son for the last 5 years, I'd say their warnings are pretty unnecessary. Don't get me wrong, I adore my nephew Thomas. I just know that I'm not trying to have a child of my own until well after medical school. But none of this seems to occur to other people. They still think they need to be the ones to tell me about the perils of teen pregnancy if they see me standing within even ten feet of a boy that isn't a cousin. But the absolute worst is when someone sees me with Paul.

Paul has a reputation. It's not completely what you'd call 'bad' but it leans in that direction. I'd like to point out, it's not even really his fault, considering the fact that it started before he was even born. Paul's mother, Linda, was a lot like my sister Nayla. Beautiful and restless – always in search of some intangible thing that can't be found on the reservation. She left when she 16, without finishing high school and with very little money. She started living in Seattle where she met Paul's father, Jack. They had a volatile relationship; both liked to drink and argue. By 17, Linda was pregnant with Paul and by the time he was 6, she was done being a parent. She was back on the road looking for that intangible thing. Jack realized that he couldn't raise a kid on his own and returned to LaPush. Sill drinking and now more angry and bitter than ever. They were the kind of family that everyone talked about poorly without a single care as to how it would hurt the innocent child.

Jack hardly put up a protest when my Mama, who had been Paul's first grade teacher, intervened and started making Paul stay over at our house whenever Jack was on one of his binges. Daddy would argue with her sometimes about her love of "strays" but Mama hated to see anyone in need. She would tell us, "if you have the power to make someone's life better, you had better do it or you're not nearly as human as you think you are". She lived by that motto and she died by it too.

Back then, Paul was quiet and brooding - an unsettling combination for a young child. I knew that even when I was just as young. He was used to being around drunks that loved to yell and fight and so he'd learned to keep quiet and just observe. But if he felt threatened or wronged, you better believe he wouldn't take it calmly. He gained a reputation for having a temper in the first grade. When Michael Ute pushed me off the swings one day at recess, Paul stalked right over to him and punched him square in the nose and when the teachers tried to make him see that what he had done was wrong, he told them very calmly that he understood he was in trouble but he would do it again if he had to. So, at just 7 years old, Paul became a trouble maker.

Mama recognized that what he needed in his life was some love and normalcy so he quickly became a fixture at our place. Just another one of the kids. I loved having Paul around. I was never scared of him. We had a friendship that was built around a fierce childhood loyalty. I never forgot what he did to Michael Ute and he never let anyone forget that he would do it again. Whenever Paul would have an angry outburst at recess and get sent to the corner of the playground for time out, I would go sit with him and hold his hand. We didn't even talk. We would just hold hands until he calmed down. Things have stayed pretty much the same – at least in that regard.

Mama died in a terrible car accident when I was 11 and my whole world started to crumble around me. Daddy took off just a week after the funeral, my Grams became my only parent, my sister had no time for me – I felt hurt and confused by everything but it was Paul that kept me steady. He didn't need me to do anything or be anything that I wasn't. When people kept telling me that I needed to be brave and be a "good girl" in my mother's memory, I wanted to cave in under the weight of it all. But Paul kept me standing. He just held my hand and gave me all the comfort that I needed.

Paul's still got a short temper but now girls find his brooding nature to be a turn on. They follow him around like lost puppies and I frankly can't blame them; he's grown tall, strong, and handsome. My favorite thing about Paul though, is how clever he is. He doesn't get nearly enough credit for that. He does just enough to get by with decent grades in school but never applies himself enough that anyone really takes notice of how smart he is. I realized that a long time ago. He admitted he found a certain amount of power in being underestimated. He has other friends now, guys to joke around with and talk about girls with, but he's still my best friend. We hang out less because I attend the Advanced Studies program at Forks High and he stays on the rez for school but none of that has really harmed our relationship. He's still my rock steady Paul. And that's what I tell anyone that dares to speak ill of him.

- Thanks for reading! More soon! -


	2. Chapter 2: Paul Lahote

Disclaimer: Twilight is the property of Stephenie Meyer. I do not own anything except the OCs.

The thing about Nahti is that she's brilliant and beautiful - but naïve as fuck. She's always thinking of other people and trying to take care of them, even when they so clearly do not deserve her time. I'm not really complaining about this because no one has benefited from this more than me but I hate to see her taken advantage of. And the list of people that are lined up to take advantage of her is way too long - and unfortunately starts with her sister. For as far back as I can remember, nothing has pissed me off as much as seeing someone wrong Nahti. It's like it makes a little piece inside my body click into action. Just ask Michael Ute, whose nose is still a little crooked.

I missed the days when we could spend just about all our waking hours together. Now, Nahti was a non-stop flurry of activity. Family, school, internships, work, and then friends and fun. That was pretty much the order of things in Nahti's life. I felt lucky to have fit into that first category of family. It was hard to explain our relationship to someone that hadn't been there from the start. Whereas I had no family, other than my father, Nahti had a lot. Ignoring her coward of a father, there was Grams, Nayla (technically), Thomas, the Clearwater family, the Young family, and although not by blood, the Black family. After the Black twins had left the reservation, seemingly for good, and with Nayla always gone, Jacob and Nahti had started telling everyone they were brother and sister. It was a joke but one that accurately described their attachment. Nahti was able to be the sibling that Jacob needed and he loved her for that, and so did Billy. But me and Nahti? We didn't name our relationship in those kinds of terms.

I have the card that Nahti gave me for my 16th birthday completely memorized.

Dear Paul,

I suppose I should warn you that this is going to be very sentimental, I know how you hate that but I couldn't help myself. So get ready!

I thank the spirits that I have you in my life. There's the family that you're born into and then there's the family that you choose; we chose each other and every day you make me proud of that fact. With you, I know that I am loved and protected. I hope that one day, I can give to you as much as you have given to me. If for some reason, too painful to even imagine, we are to drift apart, please know that if ever you needed me, I would be there. Nothing can ever change the way that I feel about you because you are my very best friend. My soul mate.

May all your wishes come true!

Love!

Nahti

Soul mate. Those are heavy words but I've found that if the right person is saying them to you, it's like you've suddenly become weightless. Everything feels possible. That's how Nahti makes you feel – like you're special and you can face whatever is coming your way. I can't think of a single person more beautiful than her.


	3. Chapter 3: Paw

Disclaimer: Twilight is the property of Stephenie Meyer. I do not own anything except the OCs.

[NAHTI]

I woke up to sun streaming through the thin yellow curtains covering my bedroom windows. Sunshine in La Push? It might as well be a holiday. I rolled onto my back only to find that I wasn't alone in bed. Lying beside me was my nephew, Thomas. He'd been dealing with almost nightly nightmares by sneaking into my bed at night. He insisted that monsters only lived in his room and that my room was safe and I hadn't found a way to talk him out of this yet.

I brushed Thomas' long hair back over his shoulders and cuddled him closer while I thought about everything that needed to be done. I had about a week before I started my internship at the Forks Hospital and I wanted to spend my time wisely. I needed to take him to get his shots so that I could register him for pre-Kindergarten. I figured he would be cranky after that so maybe if the sun was still shining, I would take him down to the beach to play for a bit before coming home and putting him down for a nap. Once he was sleeping, I could—

A soft knock on the door interrupted my planning. "Come in."

I was very surprised when Paul poked his head through the door. "Grams let me in."

I waved him over to the bed, shuffling a bit so that there was room for him to sit down. "Are you okay?" A quick glance at the clock on my dresser revealed that it was just after seven-thirty. During the summer, you'd be lucky to find Paul awake before noon.

Paul nodded but I wasn't convinced. I'd bet real money that he'd had some sort of run in with his father. I knew better than to push him though. If Paul felt like sharing, he would - on his own time. "I couldn't sleep."

"Okay." I scooted over some more, making enough room in the Queen bed for Paul to stretch out beside me. Thomas grumbled softly at being moved but quickly settled down.

"How was last night?" Paul asked after we had laid in silence for a few minutes.

Every Sunday night, my family gathered at my house for dinner. Paul had attended religiously until about a month ago. "It was nice. We missed you though."

Paul rolled his eyes. "_You_ missed me."

"Not just me." I insisted. "Thomas still sets a place for you right between us at the table and Aunt Sue even put aside some of her chocolate cake for me to give to you."

"Tell her, I said thank you." Paul said with a sigh. His face remained unchanged though.

"Sam and Leah are planning a camping trip for next weekend. Seth and Jake are down to go too. Are you in?"

"I'll pass."

Now I was worried. Paul's excuses for missing dinner had been thin from the beginning but now that he was just flat out saying no to camping - I knew something serious was bothering him. "Why are you being weird about Family Night?"

Paul turned his head to look at me. His eyes narrowed and I could see that he was closing off from me even more than before. "I'm not being weird about _your_ family night. Don't turn this into a big thing, Nahti. Not everything is a problem for you to run around fixing."

"Fine." I rolled onto my side away from him and closed my eyes again. Paul rarely snapped at me but when it happened, it stung.

A moment later, I felt his arms sliding around my waist as he tugged me back against him. "Babygirl…I'm sorry"

"It's fine, Paul." I tried to shrug him off but he wouldn't loosen his grasp.

He kissed my shoulder and held me still. "I'll come camping, okay?"

"If you don't want to, don't." I turned back to face him and we stared at each other. Paul brushed some of my hair back off of my face and tugged me even closer so that my head was tucked under his chin. I breathed his scent in and felt some of the sudden tension between us ease. "You're wanted though, you know that, right? We're your family and we need you around."

"You're my family." Paul half agreed. He kissed the top of my head and gave me a gentle squeeze. "You're too damn sensitive, you know that?"

Suddenly there was a giggle behind us. "Paw said a bad word."

I pushed away from Paul and sat up, welcoming Thomas into my lap. Thomas had taken to pronouncing Paul's name like Paw and no amount of correcting had gotten him to stop."Morning munchkin." I kissed his chubby cheeks.

"Didya have a bad dream, Paw?" Thomas asked seriously. "Didya need Nahti to make it better?"

"Something like that, Little Man." Paul laughed – a genuine laugh – and tugged the leg of Thomas' pajama pants. "You still worried about monsters?"

Thomas nodded. "They hide in my room but not in here."

"I used to have monsters too." Paul told Thomas. He glanced up at me with a smirk. "But Nahti got rid of them for me."

"You did?" Thomas whipped around to stare at me. "How?"

"Well…" I stalled, looking at Paul for help.

He got out of bed and went to my bookshelf. Built by Uncle Harry, it had been specially designed for my room – going from floor to ceiling and taking up almost half of one of my walls. Paul expertly reached to the top shelf and grabbed an old tin cookie box, where we had hidden our treasures as children. "She gave me this." He returned to the bed holding a poorly shaped clay wolf that I had made in art class. "Do you know what this is, Little Man?"

"A doggie?" Thomas looked between us. I was frankly surprised that he was even that close considering how poor my rendering was.

"Better than a doggie." I chuckled hearing Paul use the word and he gave me a smirk. "It's a wolf. And it has the power to protect you."

"Like in Uncle Billy's stories?" Thomas reached for the treasure eagerly.

"Exactly. This little wolf will keep all the monsters away. I guarantee it." Paul pressed the figurine into Thomas awaiting hands. "Take good care of him, okay?"

"I will." Thomas promised. "Can I show Grams?"

"Right after you thank, Paul." I kissed his cheek again and let him go.

"Thanks Paw" Thomas launched himself off of the bed and into Paul's arms for a hug.

"Any time." Paul set him down on the floor and we watched my nephew tear out of the room.

"I don't know why I didn't think about that sooner." I laughed and laid back against the pile of pillows. Paul joined me again –not hesitating to pull me back into his arms. I snuggled into his chest and let his steady heartbeat relax me.

"Me either." Paul chuckled. "Do you remember when you gave that to me?"

"You were worried about monsters after we snuck and watched that scary movie at your house." I mumbled into his chest. "You know, you're going to make a really good dad someday.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Paul said with a trace of amusement in his voice. "I don't exactly have the best role models."

"No," I agreed. "But you're a natural with Thomas."

"He's special." Paul yawned and nuzzled the top of my head. "I'm exhausted."

"Rough night?" I tried to ask as casually as possible.

"No more than usual." Paul yawned again. "Don't let me sleep too late, okay?"

He drifted off in a matter of minutes but I continued to lay with him for a while longer, thinking about everything he'd said that morning. I needed to find out what was going on with him and why he suddenly felt so uncomfortable with my family. And I had a pretty good idea where to start.

* * *

><p>After running errands half the day with Thomas attached to my hip, I left him with Grams and quickly went off in search of my 'brother', Jacob. Not surprisingly, I found him tinkering with Uncle Billy's old truck. The one that he was getting ready for Bella Swan, Chief Swan's daughter, who was coming to live with him at the end of summer.<p>

"Hey sis." Jacob wiped his hands on a rag so that he could give me a hug. "I thought you couldn't hang out today."

"I can't stay long, I'm supposed to meet Leah in a bit." I leaned against the truck and looked at the progress he'd made, even though I couldn't make any sense of all the parts. "Can I talk to you about something?"

"Sure sure." Jacob nodded. "Let's go for a walk, I need a break from this anyway." Without saying much, we both took off towards the woods, headed toward a spot that had been our favorite as children. "What's on your mind?"

"It's about Paul." I tried to keep my tone neutral as I observed Jacob out of the corner of my eyes. He rolled his eyes at the mention of my best friend. "Do you not like him?"

"Why would you say that?" Jacob stopped walking and looked at me suspiciously. "Did Paul say something?"

"No." I folded my arms and stared back at him. "Should he have?"

"There's nothing for him to say." Jacob started walking again. "Paul is fine."

"Really, Jake? Because it kinda seems like you've got a problem with him lately." As kids, we'd all gotten along fine. Once Jacob got used to Paul, the three of us had played together all the time. But after we got to high school, and I started going to Forks, the only time they were ever around each other was on Family Night or some other activity that I had arranged. "He hasn't been to Sunday dinner in over a month."

"How is that my fault?" Jacob asked sarcastically. "I'm not in the guy's head. Maybe he'd rather spend time with his own family."

It was my turn to stop walking and look suspicious. Jacob knew enough about Paul's home life to know that this wasn't the case. "Paul _is_ family."

Jacob shook his head. "We're not kids anymore, Nahti. Do you know what kind of stuff people say about you and Paul when you're not around?"

"Jake, I could care less." I shrugged my shoulders. "If people are going to gossip, they're going to gossip. What can I do about it?"

"You could stop giving them reasons to talk." Jacob glared at me.

"What reasons? What are you even talking about?" I glared back.

"Last month, did Paul take you up to the cove… at night?" Jacob demanded. The cove wasn't actually a proper cove. It was an inlet that had an old fishermen's shelter there. It had long been abandoned for its intended purposes but high school kids often used it as a hook-up spot.

"No, Paul didn't take me to the cove." I rolled my eyes. As if.

"Michael Ute said he saw you guys get out of Paul's truck and go off with a pile of blankets." Jacob challenged me.

"Right, because we went to First Beach and ate junk food and stare gazed for a few hours. Which, I've done with you plenty of times, by the way."

"You want me to believe Paul Lahote likes to star gaze?" Jacob snorted. "Come on, Nahti. You don't need that kind of a reputation. You're a good girl."

Suddenly, I was furious. "You don't know the first thing about what I need, Jacob. I love you to death but if you truly believe that Paul is a bad guy, you're an idiot."

Seeing that I was serious, Jacob tried to contain the situation. "I know he's not a bad guy, Nahti, but wherever he goes, rumors follow. You don't want people thinking you're the kind of girl. You're better than that."

"Better than what?" I snapped. "Better than my sister? Better than Paul?"

"That's not what I meant. No one said anything about Nayla."

"But you implied it. Like I don't know what people say about her. What kind of girl she is. I never would have thought you'd be so judgmental, Jacob. How about this, if you have any more concerns about me and my reputation, you bring them to me, okay? Don't you dare even try and make Paul think he's done something wrong. He's my best friend and I won't let you treat him like this."

"Nahti, come on." Jacob reached for my arm but I jerked it away and started stomping my way back to my car. "Come on, Nahti. Slow down. I'm sorry, alright, but you can't blame me for looking out for you. I just don't want to see you getting hurt."

"Paul would never hurt me." I growled over my shoulder.

"He might not mean to, Nahti, but-"

"But nothing, Jake." I stopped walking and Jacob nearly bumped into the back of me. "I know you're trying your best to protect me and I love you for it, Jake but you were way out of line. Paul is family. You don't have to like him, you don't have to hang out with him, I don't care if you two never even speak to each other again, but he has a place at Gram's table and he has a place in my life. Got it?"

"Yeah." I could hear the dejected tone in Jacob's voice so I gave him a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek. "We good?"

"When Paul is back at Sunday dinner, we're good." I turned on my heel and stalked off again.

* * *

><p>- Thanks for the reviews! Let me know what you think! I'm going to be picking up plot from the booksmovie soon. -


	4. Chapter 4: Okay, Spill

Disclaimer: Twilight is the property of Stephenie Meyer. I do not own anything except the OCs.

* * *

><p>[NAHTI]<p>

"Okay, spill."

"What?" I looked at Leah with confusion. We were both sprawled out on the Clearwater's couch watching some nonsense reality show on Bravo, eating a very unhealthy amount of chips, when Leah suddenly turned the television off.

"There's something clearly rumbling around in that head of yours, so spill it." Leah repeated herself. I usually loved my cousin's no nonsense personality but I was still feeling upset about my interaction with Jacob and I wasn't sure I wanted to discuss my feelings. "Is it Nayla, did she turn up again?"

I shook my head. "It's not that. I just got into a stupid fight with Jacob before I came over here and it's bugging me. Sorry, I know I'm not being any fun right now."

"What'd you fight with Jacob about?" Leah rightfully looked surprised. I hardly ever even bickered with Jacob, let alone fought with him. "Oh… is it about him and Paul?"

My head snapped towards her. "How'd you know that? Did one of them say something to you about it?"

"No." Leah shook her head. "Sam mentioned that he thought something weird was going on between them. He said he saw them arguing a while back and Paul didn't look pleased with whatever Jake was saying. Sam said he looked so angry that he really thought Paul was going to hit Jake but he just walked away."

"Ugh. The last thing I need is for those two to go at it." I dropped my head back against the couch. "Without outright admitting it, but basically admitting it, Jake told me that he attempted to get Paul to stay away from me because stupid Michael Ute started some rumor about us going to The Cove. And then when I tried explaining that Paul and I had just been hanging out at First Beach, Jacob looked like he didn't really believe me and said that I was _'better'_ than that."

Leah was probably the only person in my life that knew how much I hated being judged and having the whole 'good girl' thing thrown in my face. "Wrong choice, Jake." Leah shook her head disapprovingly. "So I'm guessing you let him have it."

"I couldn't help it, Lee." I clenched my fists in frustration. "First of all, even if I had gone to The Cove, it's no one's business! Jacob can't tell me what to do and what not to do. Secondly. Paul doesn't deserve even half the shit people give him and for Jacob to make him feel like he couldn't even come to dinners on Sunday? I wasn't going to let it slide."

"I agree, Jacob was way out of line." Leah nodded. "But you have to acknowledge that he's only trying to look out for you. Any brother is going to defend his sister against rumors and he's going to give hell to any guy hanging around her."

I rolled my eyes. "I seriously doubt Seth has ever hassled Sam."

"You'd be surprised." Leah kept a straight face for only a moment before laughing. "Okay, well, Seth is too sweet for that. But Dad gave Sam a hard enough time for them both. It took a long time before he warmed up to Sam."

"That's different. That's your Dad and Sam is your boyfriend." I countered. "Jacob has known Paul since forever. He knows what he's like and he knows that we're just friends."

"Paul might not be the hoodlum that people assume he is, Nahti but he's still a guy and Jacob isn't stupid. He sees the way Paul looks at you."

"What?" I looked at my cousin in complete confusion. "What do you mean the way he looks at me?"

Leah raised her eyebrows. "Oh come on, Nahti. You're telling me you've never noticed?"

"I don't understand…"

"Paul wants you."

"Wants me to what?"

"Paul wants to fuck you." Leah said bluntly and then laughed at my shocked expression. "It's obvious to everyone. And when he's not looking at you like he wants to fuck you, he's looking at you like some sort of love struck brooding badboy in a teen drama. It's kind of fascinating."

My mouth dropped open.

"Oh my gosh, you seriously never noticed?" Leah started to laugh harder. "Wow, you're dense. Even Mom made some comment about getting you started on birth control."

"Aunt Sue would never!" I could feel my face flaming. "Leah, tell me you're kidding. Oh gosh! Was Uncle Harry there? Seth?"

"Okay, she didn't say that exactly." Leah clutched her sides from laughing so hard. "But she did say that you two needed to have 'the talk', which is code for 'get that girl some pills'. And don't worry; it was just me and her talking."

"I want to die." I groaned. "I want to crawl into a hole and die."

"Quit being so dramatic." Leah bopped me playfully with a pillow. "You're going to tell me that you've never thought about Paul in that way?"

My mind immediately flashed back to that morning and how good it felt to have Paul's arms around me. Of course, I'd thought, _maybe_ once or twice, about what it would be like to be with him but, I'd truthfully never really entertained the idea. Losing Paul as a friend was too great a risk and besides that, I wasn't interested in dating. I needed to focus on getting a scholarship. "He's cute but…"

"Cute?" Leah shook her head. "Nahti, guys like Paul are not cute. They are hot in the most sinful of ways. They make you want to do very, very, bad things. But they are not cute. Embry is cute. Paul is sex. You seriously have never thought about what it would be like to fuck him?"

"Leah!"

"Alright." She held her hands up in surrender. "I'll quit it. I can tell that I've scandalized you enough for one day but don't think this is over. Now that I've burst your illusion of a platonic friendship, I guarantee you won't be a virgin for much longer."

"Leah, I swear to goodness." I held the pillow over my face and wondered if it was possible to suffocate yourself.

* * *

><p>Leah and Sam had plans for the night and Jacob was still on my shit list so I resigned myself to a night alone at home. It wouldn't be so terrible though. I could do some of my summer reading and finally read through the armful of training pamphlets that I had from my internship. Yup, it was sure to be another fun night in La Push.<p>

I parked Grams' truck on the side of the house and shuffled dejectedly into the house. I couldn't get Leah's comments out of my head. I think the next time that I saw Paul, I was going to die of embarrassment. How could Leah even think that Paul wanted to be with me in that way? We didn't talk about his sex life often but I knew for a fact that Paul could have his pick of girls. I seriously doubted that he lusted after me in any way. It wasn't a matter of selling myself short either, I know that I'm an appealing person. I look nice enough and I get along with most people but guys did not drool over me. I couldn't pull off sexy and alluring if my life depended on it.

"You look worried." Grams called out to me from her spot on the porch where she sat working on a quilt. I honestly hadn't even noticed her sitting there until she spoke.

"More confused than worried." I told her truthfully. Grams looked younger than her advanced years and was more active than most of my friend's parents but if you looked her in the eye, you could see the wisdom. She had eyes that never missed a single thing.

"Is this about the boys?"

For the second time that day, my mouth was hanging open in what I could only assume was an unflattering manner. "Does the whole Rez know?"

"Probably. Jacob hasn't been very subtle with his hostility and Paul hasn't been around nearly as much." Grams chuckled and motioned for me to join her. I flopped down onto the bench beside her. "But it helps that Billy called and said Jake was pretty upset about an argument that you two had. I figured there is only one thing that could get you angry at Jacob and that's Paul."

"Gosh." I covered my face with my hands. "Grams, I really let Jacob have it this afternoon. I can't believe he had the nerve to try to keep Paul away from me. And I can't believe Paul listened to him!"

"Jacob's is a born leader and there is something about the way he spoke to Paul that made him listen." Grams said knowingly. "Jake was trying to do what he thought was best for you. They both were really. You mean a lot to them."

"But Jake it's not Jacob's place!" I insisted. "And to add to the insult, he actually believed one of Ute's stupid rumors."

"He was." Grams agreed. "But you can't stay mad at him forever. You don't realize the impact that you have on people, Nahti. Your anger and disappointment will weigh heavily on Jacob's shoulders."

"Good." I huffed – even though I was starting to feel a little bad about storming off and leaving Jacob in the woods. If he felt crummy enough to tell Uncle Billy about it, he must have been really upset, which wasn't really what I wanted.

"Nahti!" Grams admonished. "When you have the power to impact people's emotions, you can't take it lightly. It's a serious responsibility."

Grams' comment confused me but I just nodded my head. I figured there was probably a hidden life lesson hidden in her words. "I know and I'm sorry. I'll call Jake in a bit and patch things up with him. Well, I'll tell him that I'm sorry about _how_ I said things but not the actual sentiment. He was still wrong."

Grams looked like she had more to say but she just shook her head. "Paul was here early today. Did Paul have another fight with his father?"

I sighed, remembering that there was still another problem that needed some solving. "He wouldn't say but I'm pretty sure. Things have been getting worse between them, I know that much. I don't want to push Paul to talk about it but I'm worried."

Grams nodded her head and put her sewing down. "Maybe he should stay here again," Grams suggested - referring to when he was younger and Mama would have him stay with us until his Dad was functioning enough to take care of him.

I could only imagine starting that conversation with him. Paul would probably close up tighter than a clam and deny that anything was wrong. "How would we convince him?"

"Let me think on it." Grams gave my hand a squeeze. "Try not to worry too much, honey. I'm going to take care of it." I had no doubt that she would. When Grams spoke, everyone on the Rez shut up and listened. It came with the territory of being an Elder and the tribe's Spiritual Healer. It was almost like an honor to have her meddle in your business. I only hoped that Paul would see it that way.

* * *

><p>[JACOB]<p>

I knew right away that I was going to have to suck it up and make amends with Paul if I wanted Nahti to forgive me. The truth was that I didn't dislike him. Paul had a good sense of humor and he was fun to hang out with, I just didn't appreciate the way people were talking about Nahti. Her family dealt with enough shit talking because of Nayla – they didn't need anymore. And it was obvious to me that Paul and Nahti weren't going to be 'just friends' for much longer. That had been the whole point in my talk with Paul. I wanted to convince him that if he really cared about Nahti, he wouldn't act on his feelings. He'd stay away from her instead.

"What are you doing here, Jake?" Paul answered the door to his house looking surprised to see me. He looked as though he had just been running a marathon and I vaguely wondered if he had a girl in there.

"Can I come in? We need to talk." I asked feeling awkward talking to him in the doorway. Paul glanced over his shoulder before shaking his head quickly and stepping outside to join me. He walked to the driveway and stopped, waiting for me to explain why I was there. "Look, you know how I feel about you and Nahti. There's no point in acting like I approve. "

Paul folded his arms. "Yeah, we're definitely past that."

"Well, I don't know how much you told Nahti about our talk but-"

"I didn't tell her anything about it." Paul interrupted.

"Fine, whatever." I shrugged. I really didn't want to argue over the details. "It doesn't really matter, all I know is she's pissed with me and I don't like it. She wants you to come to dinner on Sunday. Can you make it?"

Paul shifted on his feet and stared me down for a long uncomfortable moment. I had to agree with the guys at school; Paul Lahote could be pretty scary when he wanted to be. "No."

Well, I hadn't been expecting that response. I thought he'd give me a hard time and try to make me eat crow, but I wasn't expecting a flat out shut down. "Why not?"

"I don't need to explain myself to you, Jake." Paul turned around and started back for the house. "Give Nahti a few hours and I'm sure she'll forgive you. That's what this is about, right?"

"I'm sorry, alright." I ran to catch up with him. "I shouldn't have told you to stay away from Nahti but I really just couldn't sit back and listen to people talk shit about her. You can understand that, right?"

"Yeah," Paul nodded. "I understand perfectly, Jacob."

"So, you'll come to dinner, right?"

"No." Paul was through the front door before I could say anything else to him. I stood outside for a couple of minutes wondering what my next move should be when my thoughts were interrupted by the sound of yelling inside. I couldn't make out the words perfectly but I was pretty sure I already knew what was up. Just like everyone else on the Rez, I'd heard plenty of stories about what a mean drunk Jack Lahote was.

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><p>AN: Thanks for the reviews! Just a note about the timeline: I'm not following the books very strictly. Instead of Bella arriving in January. She's going to arrive in August, in time for the start of the new school year,etc.<p> 


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